Dial and dial-holder for watches and the like.



G. F. EBERHARD.

DIAL AND DIAL HOLDER FOR WATCHES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21.1914.

Patented July 22, 1919.

, a M lm 0 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE Fa EBEBHARD,

or mnron, NEW JERSEY, assrenon 'ro non'r. H. INGEBSOLL & 330., A JOINT-STOCK assocra'rron.

mu. m DIAL-HOLDER roa warcnns Ami m LIKE.

Specification of Letters lf'atent. I Patented July 22, 1919.

Application filed latch 21, 1914. Serial No. 828,345.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. EBERHARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Trenton, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dials and Dial-Holders for Watches and the like, of which the followin is a specification.

My invention is designed to provide a dial and dial holder organization for watches and the like, which is of simple construction and which will enable ready and accurate attachment of the dial to the dial holder, and the ready and accurate attachment of these parts to the dial plate, and the invention consists in the features and combination and arrangement of arts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a dlal with my improved holder in connection therewith;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the holder detached; s

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the holder;

Fig. 4 i an enlarged view of a portion of the holder with the dial in place;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views of modifications;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are views of modified means of centering the dial and dial holder.

The dial may be made of a plate covered with enamel, as in. ordinary practice, or it may be made of material adapted to be stamped with any desired ornamentation.

The dial is preferably provided as shown in Fig. 4 with projections or studs 3 formed on or in its copper 3, and these are preferably located radially in line with the twelve hour mark and six hour mark, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The holder 4 for at.- taching this dial removably to the .dial late consists of a metallic'member preferab in the form of a ring having an upstan ing flange 5 adapted to receivethe dial within it. This flange is left intact, and it is bent in or indented around its circumference or at desired points to hold the dial 1n place, this indentationor indentations beingindicated at 6, Fig. 4, and being of any suitable.

number or, if desired, it ma be continuous.

At the points 7 the dial ho der is provided With openings or recesses which receive the centering or locating dial, or dialcopper, w ch thus accurately then exert the necessary EEOjGGtlOIlS 3 of the determine the location of the dial in relation to said dial holder.

The dial holder in turn is accurately located in relation to the dial plate 8 by projections or feet 9 hereinafter referred to. It will be observed that the dial is held entirely by the upstanding rim, no cement being employed in making the attachment. For retainln this holder to the dial plate I provide as above stated the feet or micetions 9 preferably of a snap-spring c aracter. These spring feet are formed by first drawing up the metal in the form of a cup and pressing it back to laterally spread the lower portion of the cup. By making a saw cut or cuts in this projection, a two-part or a four-part spring-snap foot will be provided, as shown at 9 in Figs. 3 and 6.

I do not limit myself to the extent of the intact portion of the upstanding rim of the fastener which is bent into connection with the fastener, as the entire rim may be bent or pressed inwardly into engagement with the dial as in Fig. 4, where the dial copper 3 is held to the dial by being pressed into a circumferential groove thereof, and the flange of the fastener in turn engages the groove of the outer side of the dial copper.

The centering openings 7 of the dial holder may be formed by punching out the metal at the same time the eet 9 or 9 are drawn up from the metal of the said dial holder.

It will be clear that to unite the parts it will simply be necessary to center the dial and fastener in relation to each other by the stud or studs on the dial or dial copper and the centering opening or openings 7, and pressure to snap the parts. together. ThlS snap construction will involve the formation of the bead or indented portion of the flange of the fastener shown in Fi ..4, previous to assemblin the dial therewitli, but it will beunderstoo that with the dial and its copper provided with the external groove it would be possible for the workman, after having centered a dial in the dialholder, to himself press in the metal of' the flange of the dial holder or fastener either all the way around or at any desired points, getting thereby the same result, substantially, as where the flange of the dial holder or fastener is previously provided with an indented bead m-termediate of its height, that is, the dial will be held against vertical displacement in relationto the flange of the fastener while the centering points will hold the parts together against circumferential displacement, or the flange of the fastener may be lndented or spun into connection with the dial at any suitable used in a form to holdby frictional engagement with the wall of an opening in the dial plate .or it may be upset and scored as described to provide a spring snap button.

Furthermore, the fastener and the dial can flange of the fastener into engagement wi the dial, in which case the edge ofthe d1al would be rounded or tapered upwardly slightly and the flange bent or spun m, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6. o

- Instead of forming the locating pro ect1on 3 as shown in Fig. 4, this. projection may be formed as shown in Fig. 7 at 3. As shown in Fig. 8 the dial copper may have a central opening and a second opening 12, and the dial fastener or holder will have upstanding portions of its shell at 3', 3, to enter these openings and thus center the dlal and its fastener. Again, as shown in F1g. 9, the dial copper may have a central tapered opening and a second tapered opening, the shell of the said copper being earned up at these points, and into these openings the tapered projecting rim portions 3 and 3 extend to get the centralizing effect.

In all the above forms it will be noticed that the centering projections and openings or recesses are formed in the base plate of the dial and fastener respectively also that the projections are formed by pressin the metal from said base up as shown in igs. 8 and 5 9, or down as shown in Figs. 4 and 7.

It will be understoodthat either of the forms of centering 'means can be used with terlockin be held together by spinning the upstanding same is true of the feet for securing the dial holder to the dial plate.

As shown in Fig. 5 the centering projection 3 of the dial copper may be positioned so as to enter the opening in the dial holder which is formed by drawing the feet 10, and it will be understood that this may be used in place of the separately formed projection 3, or in connection therewith, as shown in Fig. 4, and this feature may be applied to any of the forms of the invention described.

In all the forms, the flange of the holder does not extend above the upper surface of the dial, but yet in each case there is an inconnection between the holder and the ml or dial copper due to the flange of the holder being bent in and over the portion of the dialwith which it contacts.

The pressed in portion of the flange of the holder may be said to overlie the adj acent portion of the dial copper, and this is true whether the flange of the holder is pressed into a groove in the dial copper all the. way around the circumference or only at intervals, or whether the flange of the holder is pressedjn, as shown in Figs. 5, 7, 8, and 9, to lie flat against the incllned or upwardly tapered edge of the dial copper or as shown in Fig. 6, in which the holder fits the curved edge of the dial copper.

I claim as my. invention In combination witha dial and its copper, a dial holder of sheet metal having an upstanding rim and having cup-shaped feet struck out of itsbase portion and extending downwardly to engage the movement plate, said dial copper having centering projections entering the open top portions of the cup-shaped feet, substantially as described. 

